These tokenised deposits are a digital representation of traditional sterling commercial bank money. They retain the trust and regulatory protections of conventional deposits, while offering benefits such as enhanced speed and fraud protection. 

Building on the successes of the UK Regulated Liability Network (RLN) project’s earlier phases, this pilot phase will position the UK as a leader in payments innovation, delivering tokenised deposits and programmable payments against three use cases. 

• Person-to-person payments via online marketplaces: reducing fraud and enhancing buyer and seller confidence.
• Remortgaging processes: improving transparency, speeding up transactions, and mitigating conveyancing fraud.
• Digital asset settlement: connecting tokenised customer money to digital assets for seamless exchange.

The pilot will run until mid-2026 and aims to demonstrate tangible benefits to customers, businesses and the wider UK economy. These include giving users greater control over their payments, stronger fraud prevention, and more efficient settlement processes. 

This project forms a vital part of the UK’s efforts to deliver next-generation money and payments via GBTD, by applying new digital technologies to the form of money most widely used by consumers and businesses today. It will also enable UK commercial bank money to support government ambitions for growth and innovation, like the current plans for a digital gilt (DIGIT) and the National Payments Vision (NPV). 

The platform will be fully interoperable between new forms of digital money, payment systems and institutions. It also offers tokenisation-as-a-service, ensuring that organisations without their own tokenised deposit capabilities can participate. 

Participating firms currently include Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Nationwide, and Santander, with support from Quant, EY and Linklaters. 

UK Finance will host engagements and events throughout the pilot to provide all stakeholders with updates on the work and next steps and encourage stakeholders to express their interest in the work here. A webinar with further details will be held on 6 October, and can be registered for here. 

Jana Mackintosh, Managing Director, UK Finance said, “This project is a powerful example of industry collaboration to deliver next generation payments for the benefit of customers and businesses - and an opportunity for the UK to lead globally in setting standards for tokenised money. Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, recently called for innovation in how digital technology is applied to the money we use today. That’s exactly what tokenised deposits represent: a secure, regulated evolution of the payments landscape.” 

Peter Left, Head of Digital Markets and Innovation at Lloyds said: “Being a pioneer in digital money and assets has the potential to deliver significant benefits to the UK. Lloyds is dedicated to be at the forefront of developing tokenised deposits and next generation technology that can help our customers to meet their financial needs in faster, safer more innovative ways.” 

Ryan Hayward, Barclays, Head of Digital Assets said: “In the near future, the UK will likely witness the development and adoption of multiple forms of digital money and payments. We believe commercial banks will have a role to play across all of these forms. The upgrading of bank deposits to a digital form will help to ensure that commercial bank money remains central to the economy and customers continue to benefit from the protections and trust that go alongside that form of money.” 

John O’Neill, Group Head of Digital Assets & Currencies at HSBC, said: “Tokenised deposits are an important development in digital money, and we look forward to drawing on our global experience in this field to serve our clients. Collaboration via this programme can help support the development of this market.” 

Peter Left, Head of Digital Markets and Innovation at Lloyds said: “Being a pioneer in digital money and assets has the potential to deliver significant benefits to the UK. Lloyds is dedicated to be at the forefront of developing tokenised deposits and next generation technology that can help our customers to meet their financial needs in faster, safer more innovative ways.” 

Isabel Pitt, Deputy Payments Director at Nationwide said: “As a mutual, we deliver long-term value for our customers, and we’re excited by what tokenised deposits could potentially mean for customer experience in the future. By working collaboratively across the industry on innovation, we can help to build the next generation of digital money solutions on trust, inclusivity, and the values that define mutuality.” 

Lee McNabb, Payments and Digital Assets Lead, Natwest Group said: “Money and payments are changing rapidly, we need to be part of that debate to ensure we can meet the evolving needs of not only our customers of today, but our customers of tomorrow. We feel Tokenised deposits are a great opportunity for the UK, bringing added functionality mixed with security of existing commercial bank money”. 

Paul Horlock, Chief Payments Officer at Santander UK said: “Santander UK supports the GBTD pilot to foster innovation, enhance payment efficiency, strengthen financial infrastructure, and explore digital settlement opportunities. Bringing the opportunity for ‘smart money’ to retail consumers to provide increased confidence, security and flexibility is part of our evolution to a multi-money future and is consistent with the aspirations of the UK’s National Payments Vision.” 

Gilbert Verdian, CEO of Quant said: “Being selected for this project marks a pivotal step in the UK’s financial evolution. This milestone goes beyond improving payments, it’s about enabling new forms of programmable money that will fundamentally transform how value is moved and managed. Our involvement underscores Quant’s leadership in digital finance, as we work alongside the UK’s leading institutions to build the infrastructure powering tomorrow’s economy.” 

Richard Hay, Global Co-Head of Fintech at Linklaters said: “This pilot is a significant step forward in the evolution of digital money in the UK. By enabling live transactions with tokenised sterling deposits, the industry is harnessing technology to enhance trust, security and efficiency across critical payment and settlement workflows. We are proud to support UK Finance as they bring together the industry to deliver innovation with strong regulatory underpinnings. The collaboration reflects not only the strength of the UK’s financial sector but also its determination to lead in setting standards for safe, practical adoption of tokenisation and digital payments.” 

Mike Zehetmayr, UK Financial Services Partner at EY, said “The next generation of financial technology brings both huge opportunities and potential challenges. This industry-wide pilot is an important step in supporting the necessary infrastructure behind innovative digital payments leveraging tokenised deposits so they can be used more confidently and flexibly on a larger scale. This collaboration and the delivery of live transactions will help the financial industry as a collective and guide the safe and successful implementation of sterling tokenised deposits to bring value to customers, businesses and the wider UK economy.”